JMack was born in England to a military family and as a child he was into sports, cars, and music. He wanted to either be an Air Force pilot or soccer player. “I played team sports and served in the Air Force which taught me the value of hard work and team building, due to great coaches and mentors,” says JMack. “Later in life I had a knack for sales and figured if I’m decent at selling something I have little interest in, there’s no limit to where my passion can take me, hence the ‘High Passion’ motto.”

After the Air Force, JMack went to The University of North Texas. While back stateside, he found himself in a variety of situations that helped him learn tools to use in his own venture. He helped open an Ecko store where he saw firsthand how a brand could really jump off. He was also active on the music scene back when promoters ScoreMore were still early in the game, and he learned about branding. “Family crisis took me away from all of those interests and back to the basics, which was just playing soccer with friends in dealing with depression from the unfortunate suicide of my granddad,” he says. “I decided this would be my way back, an athletic brand driven by all of those influences and experiences.”

So he began Strike First, and with an opportunity from Kick101 and Kixpo, he was able to showcase his brand early on. He actually won the Kixpo contest with his custom Barcelona Yeezy jersey that he put back in the vaults immediately after. Since then, he’s been on a constant grind, finding his prior experiences as assets and maneuvering through the challenges of wearing many hats. When he does face adversity from this daily grind, he copes by creating more or going to go play soccer. “Growing a new brand means several roles which can require shifting to completely different mindsets,” he says. “It is important to have high self awareness.”

Read more about JMack in Issue 21, available July 13. AND check out JMack and Strike First at #TheCOSIGNExperience, July 13-16. For More info click here.

We #COSIGN JMack because he’s taken his passion and made it his business, and because he creates dope product.